Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Charlotte 49ers head football coach Brad Lambert arrived at his office in the Barnhardt Student Activities Center at 6:50 a.m. this morning, giving him a few minutes to prepare for the rush of activity that was coming his new program's way.

Ten minutes later, the fax machine rang and the first of the 49ers' new football signees -- Will Thomas, 6-0, 165-pound slot receiver from Topsail High in Hampstead -- was sending in his letter of intent. A few seconds later, Maiden quarterback Matt Johnson became the 49ers' second official player.

That's how it's been all morning, as 20 players have officially signed with the 49ers through 11 o'clock. Lambert and the rest of his staff have been huddling in a meeting room -- a wide-screen television tuned into ESPNU's coverage of national signing day on one wall. On the other is a board with each position listed, names posted as the LOIs come in.

It's a popular place to be in the athletic department. A steady stream of people come and go, helping the coaches kill time while waiting for more commitments to come through. Breakfast was served in the hallway. The coaching staff also gets ready to watch a highlight video of their new players that will be released tomorrow

Then, one coach walks out, toward the fax machine. Another player -- this time Lakeside, Ga., linebacker Kendal Parker -- is on the line. And the big board is updated.

I have no interest in the pissing contest, but I do want to address DRH.

The idea that Miss Bonnie was the reason that football never returned to campus is nothing more than a myth. When things got tight in the late 40's, Miss Bonnie allowed the students to decide whether the school should fund a football team or help the students pay for their books. Books won. That is the reason football ended at Charlotte. After that, it was nothing more than a lack of foresight from our administrators.

I can back up Lewis Morgan. When I had a work-study job in the History Dept. in 1991, I saw Ms. Cone all the time. I asked her the football question. She was never fundamentally opposed to football, as many believed. She just didn't want academic funding cut to pay for football. She was keenly aware of the ongoing mistreatment of UNCC by the UNC governing body (UNCC has long been one of the top 5 schools in enrollment and near the bottom in state funding) and didn't want to give the anti-Charlotte rednecks who make thsoe decisions any ammo. As long as academics are not hurt, she said to me, we can start playing football tomorrow.

Bonnie Cone raised some serious eyebrows when she greenlighted the first football program back in the early days before UNC Charlotte even was UNC Charlotte.

Cone's intention was to make a temporary center into a permanent university ... and starting a football team was not something that a 'temporary' center was supposed to do. It was one of the very first self-declarations to Chapel Hill by Cone that we would be a permanent university whether they liked it or not.

Even though that initial football program was short-lived, it was an early contribution to the school becoming what it is today.